Bonner scores 20 as Mercury win No. 1 seed in West

Sep 7, 2009 - 5:01 AM
PHOENIX(AP) -- With a little help from Minnesota, the Phoenix
Mercury are now headed into the postseason with home-court
advantage for at least the first two rounds.

DeWanna Bonner had 20 points and seven rebounds to help the
Phoenix Mercury clinch the Western Conference's regular-season
title with a 100-82 victory over the Atlanta Dream on Saturday
night, a week left in the season.

"We need to keep our winning streak going to keep that No. 1
spot, be important later on down the line," said Bonner, the No.
5 overall pick in this year's draft. "I just came in, and my
teammates, I just fed off them and their energy. They came out
with a great start and made me more comfortable and I looked for
my shot more."

Temeka Johnson had 16 points and five assists and Penny Taylor
also scored 16 points for the Mercury (22-10), winners of four
of their last five. Phoenix clinched the No. 1 spot in the West
with its win coupled with Seattle's loss to Minnesota earlier in
the night.

After twice rallying, Phoenix pulled away for good late in the
third quarter, Bonner starting a 16-4 run with a 3-pointer.

"They were running all day on us," Atlanta guard Iziane Castro
Marques said. "So that was a huge key for them. They were
running and they knew we were in a back-to-back so they came out
with their offensive mindset. We didn't stop them. Every time we
got back in the game they have 5-10 points on running
fastbreaks. That was a big key for them."

Phoenix scored 22 points off the break and had 19 points off 14
Dream turnovers.

Diana Taurasi added 13 points, seven assists and six rebounds
for the Mercury. With a 3-pointer in the second quarter, she
became the fastest player in league history to reach 4,000
career points, doing so in 197 games. Seattle's Lauren Jackson
had the previous mark at 209 games.

"To be Western Conference champions in a tough, tough
conference, it means a lot," said Taurasi, the league's leading
scorer at 20.6 points a game. "It means we played together, we
stuck in there, through hard times, (now) we're playing really
well. So it says a lot about this team."

Erika DeSouza had 23 points and Michelle Snow added 17 points
and seven rebounds for Atlanta (17-15). The second-year Dream
missed a chance to secure a playoff berth one year after
finishing with a league-record 30 losses, but remained one game
ahead of third-place Detroit with two games to play.

Atlanta, which had won consecutive games, lost three of five on
its road trip, splitting its last two on consecutive nights that
took its toll, said coach Marynell Meadors.

"This is the end of a 13-day trip and five games," Meadors said.
"I think that's all that was involved in the whole thing
(tonight). We fought hard and I thought our energy was good. But
you just can't play these back-to-back games and have to travel
the same day. It's just totally impossible."

Phoenix used a 16-2 run midway through the first quarter to take
a 22-10 lead with 2:07 left and had a 43-35 advantage at
halftime.

However, Atlanta went on a 15-2 run capped by Iziane Castro
Marques' 3-pointer with 5:11 left in the third to pull to 52-50.
Bonner hit a 3-pointer to start a 16-4 spurt for Phoenix and
Atlanta never recovered.

Atlanta played its sixth straight game without second-leading
scorer Chamique Holdsclaw, who had arthroscopic surgery on her
right knee.

The Mercury were also the West's top seed in 2007, when they won
the championship.